[LE D1] Fish Do Not Sleep (open)

[Wu]

Wu took a breath and rose calmly. Perhaps unexpectedly to the other two humans he did not seem worried nor on the defensive.

''Good evening nezumi.'' he bowed lightly to the rat-man ''Are you gearing up for battle?''

[Ch'jak'matt]

A faint grunt. "Snack-snack. Find den for sleep-dream. Bright sun wake-rise and we walk-march into hell." The tone was gutteral, and he looked frustrated, as if he was struggling with the words. He chewed at the root some more, And raised the axe off his shoulder, setting it on the ground "Am Ch'jak'matt. Warrior. Fight-slay many big-scary-spirits that crawl out of hole made when heaven-falls-burning."

[Wu]

''Well met Chjaquemat...Chejakemate...euh'' Wu cleared his throat, a bit embarassed ''Forgive my tongue, I am not used with the names of your people'' he inclined his head in humility

''I am Wu of the Dragon clan...This is Ko and Yogo. We all will join the expedition tomorrow as well...will you come sit with us?''

[Ko]

Ko nodded when her name was given. She peeled her fingers from the hilt of her stone knife so she could put it away and press her palm to her chest with spread fingers, the same gesture she'd made before approaching Yogo's fire. Her lips moved as she, like Wu, tried out the ginormous ratling's name--under her breath, though. It clearly wasn't easy.

She grabbed on to the part of the Nezumi's speech she was pretty sure she'd understood. ”Uh. Aren't you going to sleep in the big Clan house like everyone else?"

...Will he fit in the Clan house?

[Yogo]

That's a fucking bit rat. Yogo mused to himself, staring at the creature. Still, the critter wasn't actively trying to murder him or anyone else - and since Nanzi had told him that these things were allies, he held his hand. So much for the fish. "Well me, Checkmate." he greeted the ratling, bobbing his head while eyeing the thing nervously. Hearing Wu invite Checkmate to the fire, he shuffled closer to Ko to make space for one more... person. "So, Checkmate, what can you tell us about the lands we are heading to?"

[Ch'jak'matt]

"Ch, Jak, Matt" He enunciated each part separately, as he came closer to the fire, sitting down gracefully, laying the axe nearby. "Prefer sleep-sleep outside man-thing dens. Don't smell right." He rubbed at his nose, and pulled the helm off, setting it to one side. "Lands of home are...overrun. Creatures who serve corrupt, rebel. Nightmares climb out of hole. Ten season-circles we fight. We lose, slowly. Bit by bit. man-things god fall from heavens with fire that burns all. Fall through chief-of-chief's great den, where many live. Take memory stick's that record history. Take armies. Take much. Leave destruction."

[Yogo]

"Chi, Jake, Mate?" Yogo offered, listening to the creature as it talked. When the ratling admitted it rather, Yogo smirked softly, figuring that the sentiment was likely mutual. "So, what kind of creatures are your kith fighting, then? Nightmares, you call them." he asked Ch'jak'matt, trying to speak slowly that it would understand him.

[Ko]

Ko eventually settled on "Cha-jaku-maat" as the closest thing to the big creature's name that her tongue would cooperate in producing.

She shook her head a little, parsing his words with effort. As far as she could understand, they fit with what Ick-titch-kret had said earlier, though Cha-jaku-maat's speech was not as easy for her to understand as the smaller Nezumi's had been.

"Many kinds of people are in danger these days, I learn." She glanced at Yogo, also curious about the asnwer to the question he had asked.

[Wu]

Wu was quiet, intent on listening for valid questions had been asked and the answers would be very precious for all here.

[Ch'jak'matt]

"Many thing crawl-crawl out of hole. They are...." He paused a moment, uttering in his own tongue By the transcendent, how do I say it in their tongue A faint grimace. "Many shape. Some not so scary, size of man-things, easier to put down with M'krtf M'atch-tek. Others big as man-thing dens, or bigger. Take many Nezumi to slay, and lose nezumi to them." He frowned a moment. "Lose many friend-family-companions to Tommorow."

[Ko]

Ko leaned forward a bit in the firelight, intent. Seeing Cha-jaku-maat show a little visible distress made him(?) less intimidating, and the dangers ahead a little scarier--even if, unbeknownst to Ko, some of his discomfort was really about translation troubles.

"Monsters." She understood at least that much. "Animals? Or enemies?"

To her, enemy meant someone with the intelligence to choose to harm someone else, not just a witless beast, though whether the others interpreted the word in the same way remained to be seen.

[Yogo]

Yogo frowned, trying to make sense out of what 'Chi-Jake-Mate' was saying. "Yeah. What kind of monsters do you mean?" He had seen some unnatural things in his life, though most of them had been evil spirits of sorts. Tales he had heard a plenty yet none he had actually never seen an ogre or a troll. "Any many shapes? What do you mean?"

[Wu]

Wu raised a hand, slowly.

''Let us not drown Ch-jak-mat in questions...our languages are foreign to each other and, despite Ch-jak-mat's mastery of ours, some ideas might be difficult to translate.''

He scratched his chin then turned to the rat-man warrior

''Could a drawing be better?''

[Ch'jak'matt]

He shook his head a little. "Not good at draw. I try give word-picture. ONe i see twice size of man thing. Bigger even the forge servants. his...." He wrapped one hand around his bicep "As big around as me. Kill thirty nezumi so one could take down. Sharp metal do little. Skin tougher then...." He wrapped one hand on his armor, hoping the idea got across. "Some smart, like Nezumi or man thing. Other wild like dog that beat too much and run away from home."

[Yogo]

"Ha. So, these things have always been there?" Wandering into land inhabited by monsters sound bit less appealing than being part of a heroic expedition, but having to brave beasts twice as tall as man sounded less encouraging. "Well, as long as they burn." Dragging his knife across his palm, the young man snapped his fingers and called upon the kami, the flames dancing on his fingers for a moment before dying out. "Ouch.." Yogo winced as he wiggled his slightly singed hand.

[Wu]

Wu took the jade amulet out from beneath his shirt and played with it absentmindedly

"I would not be so sure about magic...I am told the influence of Jigoku can corrupt the bloodletting ritual"

[Yogo]

"Pfft." Yogo shook his head. "What could stand between us and the spirits? The covenant holds true. We give for them and they answer."

[Ko]

"Uhm, so, Cha-jaku-maat Monster Fighter... does that mean you think we have to defeat creatures that big to rescue the gods' lost brother? Can we avoid them, if we keep moving?" The expedition did not have thirty warriors to spare, as far as Ko could tell. "We're not going to claim territory or take prizes, just to fetch one person. Err, one god." She ran her fingers through her by-now-mostly-dry hair, pushing it back from her face.

The exchange between Yogo and Wu sounded like shaman stuff--which was, if not fully taboo, at least a rather perilous subject for a non-shaman like Ko to pry at. Wu didn't seem to be a shaman herself, though, unless she'd misread the situation. Maybe that green amulet of his made him safe? She looked at it a bit more intently. "Is that jasper?"

Jasper and Starfish were the two moieties of the people back home--of all people, she'd once assumed, though as she'd traveled westward she had discovered that this was not the case at all. Ko had a wooden starfish ornament herself, tied around her wrist.

[Wu]

''Jade'' he replied ''Jade is said to be able to resist and help resist the touch of corruption...but only if backed by a strong will''

He paused

''I humbly suggest you buy some from our hosts.''

[Ch'jak'matt]

"Maybe. If they chase, no-tire. Have to fight-kill-destroy." He pointed at the jade "Green-shine rock hurt lots. When find, we crush down to paste with oil, coat weapon. But rare." He watched the shaman do his thing, summoning fire. "No know if effect manthing magic. Nezumi shaman still able to use shaman magic. But not like manthing magic. And not all burn. Some hide like stone. Other burn on own."